A contractor who was severely injured after a tank battery caught fire in Weld County, Colorado was hospitalized on Saturday with burns and other serious injuries.
House-Shaking Blast Heard from Mallard Exploration Site
Emergency personnel rushed to the Mallard Exploration oilfield near Briggsdale shortly before 9:00 a.m. on October 27th.
Nearby residents heard a blast that shook their homes, followed by thick black smoke, which rose from the site.
First responders quickly arrived on scene to find a tank battery engulfed in flames.
One of the battery’s 6 tanks sustained heavy damage; debris was seen scattered across the site.
The closest structures were located over 2,000 feet from the fire and escaped damage.
Contractor in Coma After Suffering Burns to 65% of His Body
According to reports, the tank battery was undergoing maintenance when the explosion occurred and severely burned one of the contractors.
Helicopters airlifted the contractor to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.
Ambulances transferred two other workers to the same hospital with less serious injuries.
Power Tool Spark May Have Ignited Colorado Tank Battery
The official cause of the fire remains under investigation. It appears, however, that the blaze may have been ignited by a stray spark from a power tool.
“While one of the contractors was working on an out-of-service storage tank, sparks from a power tool ignited some residual oil and vapor inside the tank,” Mallard Exploration said in a press release issued on Saturday.
Investigators from The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission have been onsite since Saturday morning. Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were also expected to travel to the site over the weekend.
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